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White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 11/6/07 (President Bush and President Musharraf)
— Tuesday, November 06, 2007 — MS. PERINO: Helen. Q Why is the President dodging a personal phone call to Musharraf? MS. PERINO: The President has had his Secretary of State -- Q I'm asking you directly why doesn't he call him? MS. PERINO: The President feels very strongly that President Musharraf knows exactly how he feels about the situation. Q That isn't the point. MS. PERINO: It is the point. Q Dana, does the White House believe that Musharraf is now a dictator? MS. PERINO: Look, I think that that is -- it's premature to say that. This is a President -- Q Well, why is premature when the First Lady -- MS. PERINO: -- who has worked closely with an ally in the war on terror, President Musharraf. We're doing two things with them: on the one hand, working cooperatively to take the fight to the enemy, to fight against terrorists; and on the other hand, trying to help President Musharraf and the other members of the Pakistani government to move along the path to democracy, because ultimately what's going to help solve this problem is a free society, a democratic society. And yes, President Musharraf, we believe, has made a mistake. We are gravely concerned about the situation. We are calling for an immediate return back to -- Q But wait a minute, why are you calling it a mistake? You seem to be giving Musharraf the benefit of the doubt. MS. PERINO: -- we are calling for an immediate return to civilian rule, and we are in communication with them because we have a lot of cooperative interests. We have a broad relationship, and we cannot lose sight of the fact that we have very serious counterterrorism operations that are currently underway in Pakistan as well. Q Why did -- the First Lady was very clear in her op-ed in The Wall Street Journal about Burma, Myanmar, saying it's a military dictatorship; what they're doing is wrong. We're not hearing the First Lady, we're not hearing the President being that sharp either on Pakistan. Why do you seem to be giving Musharraf the -- MS. PERINO: And what you have heard -- what you have heard from the President and this administration is that we were made aware that this state of emergency could possibly be declared. We have averted it before, in trying to work cooperatively with President Musharraf. This time the President of Pakistan decided that this is the direction he wanted to go in. We disagree with it. We want him to return to civilian rule. We want the normalcy of the democracy to come back. We're in the early stages of this crisis, and it's going to evolve. We're assessing the situation, and we're reviewing our aid packages. Q But why is it evolving? It's been days that he basically said, no more constitution, and we're going to round up political -- MS. PERINO: We have condemned the action. We have condemned the action. We cannot support any means that are happening outside of the constitution. And that's why we are calling for him to return to the constitution. But remember, this is a country that we want to see democracy. There is a way to get them back on that path. It would be in the best interests of not just the Pakistani people but for people like those of us in the United States, who want to work with an ally in order to fight against terrorists. Q But why should Musharraf believe that you guys are really serious about what you're saying from this podium when the President doesn't actually pick up the phone and call him to let him know personally? That carries a lot more weight than having Condoleezza Rice or somebody else talk to him. MS. PERINO: Well, we disagree. The President has made his points very clear with Musharraf; he's had many meetings with President Musharraf. And Secretary Rice has delivered those messages. And we feel that we are going to keep pressuring them to get back to that rule of law, working with our Ambassador, Anne Patterson, who is in constant contact with President Musharraf. Q It still does not carry the same weight as the President having direct contact with Musharraf -- (inaudible). MS. PERINO: Well, I'll let you -- I'll let that be your opinion. I'll let that be your opinion. Q But what is the tactic? I mean, what is the strategic reason for President Bush not to actually pick up the phone and talk to him? MS. PERINO: I feel confident that the President is being well served and advised by his senior national security team. The decision has been made to have Secretary Rice be the one directed to have this communication. Q Why shouldn't we see this as double standard? I mean, it's not the same standard as applied to Burma. MS. PERINO: I can understand why that question would be asked, but I think everyone has to remember that we are in the early days of a crisis, looking at a country who had decided to try to move down the path to democracy in establishing freedom of the press, civil societies, improving the education system, the public health system, allowing for freedom of expression and assembly. Democracies take time to develop. It is not easy. And this is certainly a setback, and we're -- Q Well, they certainly don't have freedom of the press or assembly at the moment. MS. PERINO: And we have called for a return to it. Burma | Dana Perino | Democracy | First Lady | Helen | Musharraf | Pakistan | President Bush | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Burma, Dana Perino, Democracy, First Lady, Helen, Musharraf, Pakistan, President Bush, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:58 PM  White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 11/5/07 (Pakistan and Democracy) — Monday, November 05, 2007 — MS. PERINO: Kelly. Q For a long time the President has urged Musharraf to give up his military status, and he has not done so. And you cited a couple of reasons why we should all be mindful of Pakistan's assistance in the war on terror. Is the U.S. willing to accept a certain amount of Musharraf's lack of democracy in order to have his assistance? MS. PERINO: We are not in a give-and-take situation. We want democracy to work. We know that democracy had been working in Pakistan. People have been able to have press freedoms, they've been participating in civil society groups, education had started to reform, the public health system was starting to get better. So I think that if they can return quickly, as Secretary Rice said, return quickly to the rule of law, they can get back on that path to democracy and we won't face that situation, an either/or situation. Q Can you have a partner in the war on terror from a country that does not embrace these democratic institutions? MS. PERINO: I think that the most important thing is for them to get back to their stated goal of having a path to democracy, establishing that free and fair elections would take place in January. You'll hear from the President more. Right now we have a review underway of all of our programs that we are supporting. We have to keep in mind that it is important that we fight the terrorists there for all people, not just those there in Pakistan but for our national security interests as well. And the President has an obligation to protect Americans, to protect American assets. So all of these things are going to have to be taken into consideration as we review the situation. Q Is there any concern from the President that during this time of uncertainty that the work the Pakistani military was doing to try to root out al Qaeda in its border regions would be compromised, or that this could be an opening for bin Laden and his associates? MS. PERINO: I haven't heard that expressed, but I'm sure that since we've been cooperating with the Pakistani military to try to root out the terrorists I don't have any reason to believe that that would end. Q Why hasn't the President called Musharraf, who is, after all, a key ally, personally? Is he reserving that, is there a lack -- MS. PERINO: The President has directed his Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, to have that direct contact. And if there's more to update later today we will. Condeleezza Rice | Dana Perino | Musharraf | Pakistan | President Bush | Press Briefing | State Department | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Condeleezza Rice, Dana Perino, Musharraf, Pakistan, President Bush, Press Briefing, State Department, War on Terror, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:23 PM
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